This review was originally published on December 27th, 2011.
Under normal circumstances, I can’t say that I’d really be looking forward to a She-Ra variant. I mostly bought Bubble Power She-Ra because I needed the parts to “repair” my first release She-Ra, but I’m also going to chalk this one up as caring about the wants of my fellow fan.

I wasn’t very happy with the first She-Ra figure. Part of that was a specific issue with the figure I received; her tiara head was only loosely sitting in place in the package, fell out when I opened it, and would absolutely not fit over the neck peg. I had to pull out my X-Acto blade and create some space in the head cavity just to get my figure to stay together. That kinda soured me on the whole figure.

After getting everything put back together there were some other issues too. There was the fan outcry about the hole in her head used to attach to the vintage toy mask. I didn’t really mind that one myself, but, similarly, I seemed in the minority for not liking the proportions the bulky dress created. The one issue t hat everyone seemed to agree on was a lack of articulation. The design of the female buck and the hardness of the material used for the dress restricted the movement of the figure considerably. She didn’t move that well, but more importantly she would never be able to sit atop her steed, Swift Wind, should he ever be released.

That made She-Ra 2.0 a requirement for Mattel once they’d decided to go ahead and make Swift Wind. Thankfully, there’s no logistics that say you should release a horse that its rider can’t ride.

Now, I have to give Mattel some credit here. After years of collecting their toys, I wouldn’t have put it past them to just tune-up She-Ra and repackage her, asking us to cough up the $20 for an apology figure instead of redoing her in a worthwhile way. I mean, look no further than the DCUC Sinestro debacle. Somewhere along the line, the Wave 3 Sinestro shrunk – he was entirely too small from his head to his toes. When they made him in his GL uniform, they didn’t fix his tiny head, opting to give fans a maskless, pinhead Sinestro instead of an accurate one. And when they did get a new buck to give him his proper height? He still sported those original tiny arms. We’re even getting that same oddly proportioned figure in a new deco in the next wave. Sigh.

So while I can’t say that Bubble Power She-Ra was really high on my want list (or on it at all since I wasn’t familiar with it before it was announced), I have to applaud Mattel for combining the need for She-Ra 2.0 with one of her classic variants to try and make a worthwhile figure for all.

So, since She-Ra 2.0’s primary function is to rectify issues with the original, how does she measure up? Pretty well. The first thing I noticed was something I wasn’t even expecting – her dress is white! I didn’t really have an issue with the original, but side-by-side, I can’t believe I didn’t. The grey on the original is just dull.

The real improvement comes in the articulation however. The material the dress (& cape) is made of a bit softer this go round and when combined with the 2-piece construction (that allows for the waist joint) and the slits down the side of the skirt (which allow the hip joints better range), She-Ra can finally move like most of the other figures in the line. And, also important if you’ve got room for a giant winged-horse in your display, she can ride Swift Wind.

She-Ra 2.0 also sports some great sculpt improvements too. If you cared about the hole in the head, that’s gone in favor of a mask that clips on. It’s designed to only fit showcasing the face, but you can kinda situate it so that the eye slits line up with her eyes if you so desire. The new 2-piece dress features a tighter symbol and better detailing on the belt. And finally, the gauntlets and boots look fantastic with their new sculpted details and two-tone deco.

There are some still flaws here however. The neck articulation is still blocked by the hair and I’m still not completely happy with the proportions, the dress looks right, but now the legs don’t. Still, I’m not really going to knock points here. I love the cobbled together “final product” She-Ra. And, yes, I went with the gold cape on my regular She-Ra. Between the different releases, we’ve got some nice, albeit limited, customizing options between the multiple heads, capes, and various gear. My He-Men figures (you know, the ones with the same head over and over and over) are a mite jealous. I’d love to get some new He-Man heads to swap around. Continue to Page 2